District heating & cooling: Sharing and learning in a cross-municipality workshop in Denmark

Representatives from the six case study cities of the progRESsHEAT project gathered mid-March in Denmark for a cross-municipality workshop and study visits.

progRESsHEAT aims at fostering the use of renewables in district heating and cooling by assisting local, regional, national and EU political leaders in developing policy and strategies. Energy Cities is one of several partners.

One topic, six cities, six case studies: Herten (Germany), Litomerice (Czech Republic), Matosinhos (Portugal), Helsingor (Denmark), Brasov (Romania) and Ansfelden (Austria). On 17 and 18 March 2016, about 20 representatives from these cities gathered in Helsingor, Denmark, to share their experience on district heating and cooling and learn from each other. Our colleagues Floriane and Christiane participated, all eyes and ears.

Each city gave a presentation on its energy and climate policy and the current status of its district heating and cooling networks. The great diversity of national contexts resulted in lively discussions, both during the workshop and on the occasion of friendly informal moments.

The group participated in several study visits. The first one led us to the Espergærde highschool, where the CO2 Committee – made of students, a teacher and the building’s caretaker – introduced us to their work to make their school sustainable and energy-efficient. Amongst other activities, they have been progressively replacing old light bulbs by LED, and installed PV solar panels and a tank collecting rain water used for the bathroom.

Then, participants were welcomed at Coloplast Mørdrup to hear about the company’s eco-friendly strategy and have a tour in their production unit. On the next day, presentations by the VEKS and Høje-Taastrup Fjernvarme companies helped us understand how the local district heating system is working: VEKS is a non-profit organisation which delivers hot water from waste incineration and biomass fuelled CHP plants to 17 local district heating companies through 100 km of transmission pipelines. Høje-Taastrup Fjernvarme is a not-for-profit district heating distribution cooperative connected to the transmission system of VEKS. The group learned more about innovative projects such as district cooling, low-temperature district heating and heat storage in former gravel pit.

This cross-municipality workshop was a real success. Presentations, discussions and study visits allowed participants to exchange experience and together look for solutions to local issues.

More information: - progRESsHEAT project: www.progressheat.eu- Have a look at the pictures of our cross-municipality workshop!- All presentations from the case study cities and study visit hosts will shortly be available on the project website.

The progRESsHEAT project has recently developed a data mapper on district heating and cooling in the six case study cities. Click here to take a look!